“Tell me and I forget”
“Teach me and I remember”
“Involve me and I learn”
Bob Adamson
Inductive versus deductive method
The most commonly used method of teaching acrobatics is known as the Deductive Method, The teacher tells or shows directly what he/she wants to teach. This is also referred to as direct instruction. However if you really want your students learn something, they need to “own it” and the deductive method is often criticized because it teaches in an isolated way, little attention is paid to meaning and practice is often mechanical.
On the opposite side the Inductive Method makes use of student “noticing”. Instead of explaining a given concept and following this explanation with examples, the teacher presents students with
many examples showing how the concept is used. The intent is for the students to “notice”, by way of many examples, how the concept works.
Teaching is not presenting your students with all the facts
Rather it is leading your students on a journey of discovery where the student acquires first hand knowledge and information by actual observation.
Deductive Approach
General Rule -> Specific examples -> PraticeInductive Approach
Specific examples -> Pratice -> General Rule
With an inductive approach your students have to figure it out for themselves and it is an approach that fosters student involvement. Unlike the deductive approach that is more focused on memorizing and covering a lot of facts quickly.
How can a teacher decide which method is best for a given topic?
How personalized should the learning be? Students will usually be more involved in the learning experience and tend to participate more actively when an inductive approach is chosen, it is important to structure the learning experience in order to draw on students’ prior experiences and learning, and to provide for their active involvement.
Should learning experiences be predictable? The deductive approach is more predictable because the teacher selects the information and the sequence of presentation. What depth of understanding and rate of retention is desired? Students tend to understand and remember more when learning occurs inductively.
How much time is available to teach the material? The deductive approach is faster and can be an efficient way to teach large numbers of facts and concrete concepts.
At the partner-acrobatics.com Teacher Trainings you will learn a ton of acrobatics, lots of prehab exercises, sport science and teaching theory, like inductive and deductive method, to support you in the journey to become a better teacher.
